Child-pornography suspect arraigned

Man allegedly exposed himself to young girl

EXETER — An Indiana man remains behind bars after he was arraigned Wednesday morning on charges he had child pornography on his computer and exposed himself to a young girl while playing a board game, dancing and doing laundry naked.

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By Jason Schreiber

seacoastonline.com

By Jason Schreiber

Posted Mar. 28, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Jason Schreiber
Posted Mar. 28, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

EXETER — An Indiana man remains behind bars after he was arraigned Wednesday morning on charges he had child pornography on his computer and exposed himself to a young girl while playing a board game, dancing and doing laundry naked.

Stephen S. Day, 26, was ordered to remain held on $500 cash and $10,000 personal recognizance bail until the court can appoint a lawyer to represent him.

Day was arraigned in the Brentwood Circuit Court via video from the Rockingham County jail, where he has been held since Tuesday, after he drove from Indiana to New Hampshire to turn himself in to Exeter police. He is charged with indecent exposure and lewdness, a Class A misdemeanor, and a felony count of possession of child pornography.

Brentwood Circuit Court Judge Mark Weaver entered a not guilty plea on the exposure charge on Day's behalf but entered no plea on the child pornography charge because pleas on felony charges can't be entered at the district court level.

Exeter police began investigating Day after the 7-year-old victim's mother reported a possible sexual assault. The girl and her mother were known to Day and the incident occurred at a home in Exeter. In an interview with authorities, the girl said that "we had a party and we were all naked," according to an affidavit by detective Ryan Veno.

The girl said that only she and Day were around and that it occurred in the laundry room in the basement. Day told police he and the girl had done laundry for the day and "danced a little," the affidavit said. The girl also told authorities Day had asked her not to tell anyone about the "party."

When he was later interviewed by police, Day claimed they were naked that day because he wanted to turn the family into a "nudist family," the affidavit said. He told police he had done some research and found people who live in nudist colonies are more comfortable with their bodies.

But police didn't believe his story about the reasons for the naked party.

"The nudist thing. That's not what's going on here. You can tell yourself that. And you can use it as a shield, but you and I both know that's not what's going on here," Exeter detective Sgt. Michael Munck told Day, according to the affidavit.

Day later put his head down and his face in his hands "and appeared as if he were going to cry," the affidavit said. Day then asked police if he would need a lawyer.

Day also admitted he had downloaded child pornography on his computer while serving in the Navy and stationed in Japan, the affidavit said. He claimed he downloaded images from underground Web sites.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. This is just something that, like, I fight with myself all the time on. And it's something that's really hard to talk to someone about," he told police.

Day also admitted he got rid of his "collection."

At Wednesday's arraignment, Day told the judge he didn't have the money to post bail. "I don't have $500 available to me and I came here willingly. I've been very cooperative with the Exeter Police Department," he said.

Weaver told Day he should have a court-appointed lawyer within 24 hours, at which time bail would be revisited.

Exeter police Capt. Stephan Poulin said he wanted to thank the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Hampton Police Department for their help with the investigation. He praised Hampton police Detective Chris Gilroy for his work on computer forensics to extract deleted files from Day's computer.